Isis capabilities degraded by '20 per cent' after Jordan steps up air strikes against group
General Mansour al-Jbour said strikes had reduced the extremist group’s military capabilities during a press conference on Sunday.
Jordan has carried out nearly a fifth of the sorties of the US-led coalition against Isis in Syria to date, according to al-Jbour. It conducted 56 bombing raids against militants in northeast Syria within three days after the brutal killing of one of its pilots, First Lieutenant Muath al-Kaseasbeh.
Malala criticises ‘weak’ effort to free girls seized by Boko Haram
Nobel Peace Prize winner says more would have been done if girls were from more privileged background
Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl shot in the head by the Taliban, has criticised Nigerian and world leaders for not doing enough to free hundreds of schoolgirls kidnapped 301 days ago by Boko Haram.
The joint Nobel Peace Prize winner said much more would have been done to win their release had they come from a more privileged background.
“Nigerian leaders and the international community can and must do much more to resolve this crisis and change their weak response to date,” she wrote on her blog. “If these girls were the children of politically or financially powerful parents, much more would be done to free them.
Yemen Briefing: Who are the Houthis, and what do they want?
The government of the Arab world's poorest country has all but collapsed, with the Shiite Houthi movement declaring that it's now in charge.
On Friday, the Shiite Houthi movement declared control over Yemen, weeks after it had seized the capital and placed the country's president under house arrest. The move raised concerns of civil war in the countryand saw UN envoy Jamal Benomar rush back to Sanaa, where he announced today that he had convinced the country's various political factions to sit down and talk over the future of the country.
There have been demonstrations against the takeover in many quarters of the country, and analysts worry that the takeover of the government by a movement stemming from the country's Shiite minority could lead to increased support for Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) as a protector of Sunni interests.
China executes mining tycoon Liu Han
Updated 0659 GMT (1459 HKT) February 9, 2015
China has executed a mining tycoon found guilty of murder and running a "mafia-style" organization, state media reported Monday.
Liu Han, 48, the former chairman of Hanlong Group, was executed along with his brother, Liu Wei, and three associates, official news agency Xinhua reported.
The men met with their families before they were executed, Xinhua said.
Liu has been linked by state media to former security czar Zhou Yongkang -- the most senior official snared in China's anti-corruption campaign.
Hanlong's interests included mining, real estate, electricity, energy and finance and the company remains a shareholder in two Australian companies - Moly Group and Sundance Resources.
Egyptian football cancelled after deadly Cairo stampede
Egypt's public prosecutor orders inquiry after 40 killed and dozens hurt in chaos at football stadium in capital.
An investigation has started after at least 40 people were killed and dozens were injured in a stampede and clashes between police and supporters of Egypt's Zamalek football club at a game in Cairo, medics say.
According to witness accounts, police tried to set up barricades and used tear gas to disperse football fans trying to force their way into the army-owned stadium in the city's northeast on Sunday.
Egypt's public prosecutor ordered that an investigation begin immediately, while the incident prompted the government to postpone the Egyptian Premier League indefinitely, the prime minister's office said in a statement.
The Egyptian Interior Ministry said the clashes occurred after supporters of Zamalek, known as Ultras White Knights, tried to attend the game without buying tickets.
9 February 2015 Last updated at 01:32
The satirist who mocks Iran's ayatollahs
What Iranian would dare mock his country's religious leaders online?
He runs a Facebook and Twitter account in Persian using a fictional character to parody the religious politics of Iran's imams and mullahs. BBC Trending spoke to the man behind Ayatollah Tanasoli - which can be translated as "Ayatollah Genitals" or "Ayatollah Penis."
Tanasoli has 20,000 likes on Facebook and 7,000 followers on Twitter - not enormous numbers but significant for Iran, where many people are afraid of openly aligning themselves with scathing satire and criticism.
His persona is that of a ridiculous and hypocritical hard-liner who seems to completely lack self-awareness.
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